


The Wedding Date

by alecmagnuslwb



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 12.3k of pining women loving women and positive female friendships, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Maia Roberts & Aline Penhallow friendship, Pining, aline is clueless helen is flirty, and they're really cute together everyone thinks so, but it was like a cool mutual breakup, engaged clizzy are a couple of saps, past Aline Penhallow/Clary Fray, so much pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 17:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20178199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alecmagnuslwb/pseuds/alecmagnuslwb
Summary: After being invited to her ex-girlfriend's wedding, Aline promises she'll be there with her new girlfriend.Problem is she doesn't actually have a girlfriend. Enter gorgeous bartender Helen who for some insane reason is completely willing to fake date her.Helen who Aline absolutely does not have a very real crush on, no way.





	The Wedding Date

Aline’s living in her own world, headphones blaring music into her ears as she walks into a coffee shop on a bright September morning before heading to work at the law office next door. She doesn’t spot anyone around her or hear the familiar voice calling her name until a tap on her shoulder startles her. She turns and there stands her ex-girlfriend beaming at her as she takes out her headphones.

“Oh my god Aline!” Clary says pulling her into a tight hug.

“Clary, wow, it’s been so long,” Aline replies pulling back from their hug.

“Almost a year, I’m so glad I ran into you,” Clary smiles sitting her coffee on a nearby table to dig around in her satchel bag.

Exactly a year actually. To the day ironically. Aline knows, not because she’s pining over her ex or anything like that, she and Clary had ended on mutual terms after a year of dating, she is however acutely aware of the fact she hasn’t so much as attempted flirting with another woman in that time. She claims it’s because she’s busy, the reality is she’s worried that if she and Clary who on paper seemed like a perfect match never really put their hearts into a relationship maybe it’s just not in the cards for her.

“I was going to send this to you, but I didn’t know your new address after you moved and you hate social media so much it’s impossible to track you down that way,” Clary says as she retrieves a white envelope from her bag. Aline can see her name is written across it in fancy script, the address section completely blank. “I was going to drop by Hunter’s Moon today to give one to Maia and have her pass it along, but this is better.”

She hands the envelope to Aline and that’s when she spots it. A silver band encrusted with three bright diamonds on Clary’s left hand.

“I know it’s sudden and possibly a little weird, but I was really hoping you’d be able to come to my wedding,” Clary says with a tentative hopeful smile. Aline is stunned for a moment taking a real look at Clary for the first time in a year. She looks happy, really, really happy, a little tanned and a lot carefree. She has a feeling that has a lot to do with whatever lucky woman she’s engaged to.

“You’re getting married?”

“Yeah, we met six months ago,” Clary says with a shy, adoring smile. She’s in love, that’s clear. “Like I said kind of sudden especially since it’s in two weeks and we planned it all in less than a month, but her names Isabelle and it feels right and I get it if it’s weird, but we were always better friends than girlfriends so I’d really love it if you could be there.”

It’s not weird, truly. Aline wishes they’d kept in better contact the past year, wishes she’d actually told Clary her new number after she’d lost her phone nine months ago, but she just hadn’t. She wants to get back the friendship they had before they tried to date.

“I’d love to come,” Aline smiles reaching out a hand to lay on Clary’s shoulder.

“Great, that’s so great,” Clary says with a bright smile. “Can you give this one to Maia too? It’d be great to see her.” She pulls out a second envelope handing it to her.

Aline nods taking the second envelope as Clary carries on. “You guys can come together if you want, but I made sure to put an option for a plus one for both of you since I didn’t know if you were seeing anyone.”

“Oh, yeah I’ll just bring my girlfriend,” Aline says jokingly to herself in her head.

“Girlfriend?” Clary says with a smile. And oh, shit Aline said that out loud and evidently not in the self-deprecating manner she intended to in her head. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

Aline panics, she can’t take the words back now. She would look just completely insane if she said it was joke, but for some reason her mind wanted to say that out loud so now she has to go with it.

“Yeah, you’re gonna love her,” Aline says about her completely fictional girlfriend, praying Clary doesn’t ask her anymore details about this fake woman. Like, for example her name.

“I bet I will, you always had great taste,” she smirks before looking down at the watch on her wrist. “I have to go, but it was so great seeing you. My cell numbers on the bottom of your invite, text me and maybe we can have lunch or something before the wedding, maybe do a double date?”

“Definitely,” Aline responds with a bright smile not having any clue why she’s digging herself deeper into this having a girlfriend hole. Clary gives her one last smile before grabbing her coffee and tossing her a wave as she heads out the front door.

Aline stands there, two invitations to her ex-girlfriends wedding in her hand with a promise of lunch with said ex-girlfriend, her fiancée and a fictional woman that she hasn’t even really successfully invented in her mind.

“Well, fuck,” she whispers to herself looking down at the invites.

***

Aline obsesses over her brains decision to betray her all day long. She’s so thoroughly distracted about figuring out how she’s going to either find a fake girlfriend or fictionalize a reason said fake girlfriend can’t attend Clary’s wedding and a prospective double date lunch that her boss sends her home early.

She enters her apartment and the first thing she finds is a note from her roommate saying she’ll be home late stuck in the library all night working on her thesis. Aline backtracks right out the door, not wanting to wallow at home about her dilemma and suddenly needing a drink.

She’s not picky so she heads to the little bar just around the corner plopping herself onto a barstool heavily then her head directly onto the wooden bar.

“Well, you definitely need a drink,” a voice says.

Aline looks up to find a bartender standing there, a very beautiful bartender. She’s blonde, her hair pulled up in a high ponytail wearing a sleeveless shirt with the bar’s insignia on it that shows off her very nicely toned arms.

“That’s usually why one comes to a bar,” Aline says bordering on flirtatious. The bartender smiles.

“What can I get you?”

Aline watches as she turns making the vodka sour she just ordered. She moves quickly and fluidly within seconds turning around and plopping a maraschino cherry into the drink and sitting it down in front of Aline.

“On the house,” she says as she pushes it forward.

“Oh, that’s- “Aline starts before the bartender interrupts.

“No arguments, you really look like you could use it,” she says before reaching down to wipe down some glasses under the bar. Aline whispers out a quiet thanks that the bartender simply responds to with a nod. Aline quietly sips at her drink for a few moments before the bartender speaks again.

“Want to talk about it?” she prompts causing Aline to tilt her head in confusion so she elaborates. “Whatever it is that has you banging your head onto a public bar?”

“Oh, that, yeah it’s stupid,” Aline says quickly truly not being able to express just how stupid it is.

“Oh come on, it’s a slow night,” the bartender says gesturing to the nearly empty bar save for a couple in a booth on the far end living in their own little world. “I’m a bartender I’m sure I’ve heard a lot stupider.”

Aline pauses for a second realizing it would be nice to just get it all out in the air. She’d hoped to do so with her roommate but this pretty stranger seems like a good second choice. Maybe an even better one, someone with no connection to the situation might have better advice.

“Well, this might take the cake for you,” Aline starts launching into her disastrous response to her ex-girlfriends wedding invitation. She’s not sure how much time passes, but by the end of her tale the bartender has her elbows propped up on the bar leaning in and listening closely to what Aline has to say. Even asking questions about her relationship with Clary.

“And you’re sure it’s not because you’re still in love with this girl or anything?” the bartender says kindly, not a trace of pity in her voice.

“Absolutely not, we were never really in love in the first place. Neither of us came out until after college and we were friends by the time we did and just kind of fell into dating each other, love was never even brought up,” Aline explains meaning every word of it. Their relationship had been a brief and barely electric thing based out of convenience and ease more than anything else. Clary had been right this morning when she’d said they’d always been better friends than girlfriends. 

“I can’t believe I just told you all that,” Aline says a second later looking a little shocked she just poured out the details of her past romance to a total stranger. “I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s a bartender thing, people just start talking,” the bartender shrugs lifting herself off the surface as a patron comes in sitting at the other end of the bar. “My names Helen by the way, Helen Blackthorn.”

“Aline Penhallow,” she responds before Helen turns away asking the other patron what he’d like to drink. Aline turns to her own drink, chugging it down a little faster than she usually would, feeling she’s earned it after running herself into circles in her own head all day.

“So, your fake girlfriend situation,” Helen says as she walks back over to Aline a few minutes later. “Ideally you could take someone you know, that way any cover story about how you met could go pretty smoothly.”

Admittedly Aline had thought about that, but the only person she’d be willing to do something like that with is her roommate Maia who Clary very much knows and who very much has a boyfriend. So, that option had been completely scratched, the second-best idea she’d had was even worse though when she’d pulled out her phone and almost downloaded tinder while on her lunch break earlier in the day.

“Or, I could just lie and say my girlfriends sick or something.” AKA the easiest option.

“No, you can’t do that,” Helen says leaning back on the bar.

“Why not exactly?”

“Because then no matter how mutual your breakup was it looks like there’s something still there for you.”

“I’m pretty sure my ex is well aware that there’s nothing still there,” Aline says with certainty.

“Maybe, but you show up alone after explicitly saying you’re not single and she might start to wonder,” Helen says before lifting back up and moving to make Aline another drink. What Helen’s saying kind of makes sense. She knows if she were in Clary’s position she might find it a little odd.

“Okay, well there’s no one I can ask and I’m pretty sure if I hire someone off Craigslist or Tinder or something I’ll end up on Dateline, so what do you suggest?” Aline asks genuinely wanting the opinion, she’s out of options and she’s fairly certain Maia will just try to talk her into actually asking someone out which she doesn’t want to bother with at such a short notice.

“I could go with you,” Helen smiles as she turns pushing another drink in front of Aline.

“You?” Aline says with wide, shocked eyes. “You don’t even know me.”

“And you don’t know me, but you said the wedding isn’t for another two weeks that’ll give us time to get to know each other, get our stories straight.”

Aline continues looking at her in disbelief. “But why?”

“Why would I offer to fake date a practical stranger?” Helen asks to which Aline nods. “Because nobody should have to go to their exes wedding feeling alone. I’ve been there, no matter how positively the relationship ended it sucks and what kind of woman would I be if I didn’t offer a helping hand to another woman in such a situation and I could do something about it.”

“You’re serious?”

“Dead serious, so what do you say Aline Penhallow? Does a blonde bartender with a hairless Siamese cat live up to your fake girlfriend standards?”

Aline can’t believe this. Can’t believe this very pretty girl is offering to fake date Aline just so she can save some face in front of her ex.

“You have a hairless Siamese cat?”

“I do,” Helen laughs. “But that’s not the important part of what I said.”

Aline bites her lip for a second in thought. All her other plans aren’t going to work and Helen might have a point about what could transpire if she shows up alone.

“Okay, but if we do this, what do we say after the wedding?” Aline asks. “I mean Clary still wants to be friends and so do I, we can’t fake date forever.”

Helen waves her off with a casual hand striping through the air, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let’s exchange numbers, you finish your drink, which sorry, but you have to pay for this one and we’ll meet up sometime this week and figure out our fake love story.”

Aline smiles, “I didn’t agree to it yet.”

“You kinda did,” Helen says with a huff.

“So, we’re doing this? You’re really willing to do this?” Aline asks one last time in disbelief.

Helen smirks holding out a hand for Aline to shake, “You just gotta promise you won’t make me fall in love with you.”

Aline laughs nervously taking Helen’s hand firmly in a quick deal binding shake. “Promise,” she says easing her voice to sound a little more relaxed than she feels.

“Then we have a deal,” Helen says squeezing Aline’s hand once before pulling back her attention drawn to another patron at the end of the bar signaling for her. She walks over stretching up to the high shelf for a bottle of vodka her back muscles flexing along with the motion under her white tank top.

Aline watches and quickly looks away when the patron at the other end of the bar notices, raising an eyebrow. It’s in that moment, staring into her drink that she realizes what an absolutely terrible idea this is. She may be able to keep her promise of not making Helen fall in love with her, but she’s not sure if she’ll be able to stop herself from falling for Helen.

***

“Wait, Helen Blackthorn?” Maia asks pausing in her incessant note taking at the coffee table in their apartment the next morning as Aline tells her about her weird prior day after sitting Maia’s invitation on top of her pile of marine biology textbooks.

“Yeah, why?”

“She used to be on the dayshift at Hunter’s Moon back before I started working there,” Maia says pushing up her dark framed glasses she’s been wearing more and more lately as she looks up at her roommate. Maia had started working at the bar during their senior year of college, now she’s nearing the end of her master’s and will hopefully never have to serve another tequila shot again. “Quit just before I started; evidently she and Lily had some sort of rough break up. Only ever heard about her.” 

“Huh,” Aline says trying to seem completely uninterested, but actually deeply interested from her spot lying on her back on the couch.

“She and Bat actually went on a date once,” Maia muses with a little laugh referring to her boyfriend, who works at the liquor supplier for Hunter’s Moon. “He said she was sweet, but they just didn’t click after the initial flirtation. She’s pretty hot judging from the somewhat passive aggressive description Lily gave me once, you should ask her out for real, you could do a lot worse.”

She could, she knows that, but this is purely one very new friend doing a favor for another very new friend and that’s it. It doesn’t matter how pretty said friend is or how much of a pleasant buzz ran up her spine when they’d exchanged numbers and their hands brushed while passing phones between one another.

Aline rises up from her position on the couch to look at Maia, “I’m not doing anything, it’s just a business arrangement.”

“Business arrangement,” Maia snorts. Aline glares at her for it.

“And why would you encourage me to go out with your boyfriends ex,” Aline says with a pointed look.

“One date doesn’t make her his ex and anyways the two facts are not in any way correlated,” Maia says with a pointed look. “You haven’t been on a date in ages, you and Clary didn’t even end in heartbreak, but you sure act like you did sometimes.”

Aline huffs at her friend, crossing her arms a little indignantly. So she doesn’t date, not everyone needs to date even if she does find herself occasionally wanting to and feeling a little lonely when Maia disappears for days on end with Bat.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s not real, it’s fake, it’s a terrible idea, but I’m stuck in it now,” she says. “I just have to find a way out of this double date lunch or it’ll be even more of a terrible idea.”

“Good luck with that, you know how persistent Clary can be.”

“I’ll find a way,” Aline shrugs waving it off like it’s no big deal when in reality she knows it will be hell trying to get out of it. But, she can do it, she can totally do it.

***

“Thursday won’t work either?” Clary asks a little sadly the next evening while she talks to Aline on the phone.

“No, sorry, Helen has to work the day shift,” Aline says turning down the third free option Clary has offered for their double date lunch, it’s a little easier to get through this conversation now that she has a name for her fictional girlfriend. She and Helen have only really exchanged a few texts since the night they met trying to work out between their busy schedules when they can find a moment to meet and build their cover story, not much has been established, she did however promise she’d find a way out of lunch.

“Damn,” Clary says. “After that it’s all wedding stuff, I don’t think we’ll have the time.”

“Damn is right, I was really looking forward to it,” Aline mostly feigns. She does feel a little bad lying to Clary, but she just can’t hold up a fake girlfriend in a one on one experience. The wedding will be different Clary will be distracted so it’ll be easier to perpetrate the lie, one on one Aline is sure she’ll slip up on something. “Guess we’ll just have to see you at the wedding.”

“Yeah. If you can’t make any lunch work I totally understand,” Clary says and for a brief moment Aline truly thinks she’s gotten out of it but it’s ruined when Clary’s voice quickly responds before Aline has a chance to say anything. “Wait! You guys should totally come to the bachelorette party! We’re not doing any sort of wild thing just a joint little get together at Iz’s brother-in-law’s club, we’ll have the whole place to ourselves, Maia should come too!”

Aline scrambles, “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“No, you totally wouldn’t be,” Clary says eagerly and reassuringly. “It’s gonna be so much fun, two days before the wedding!”

Two days before the wedding means Thursday, Thursday which is the day Aline already lied and told Clary was Helen’s only weekday day off. It’s half true, Helen really doesn’t work on Thursday’s, but she also happens to have the upcoming Tuesday off, a day Aline already turned down.

Aline could say yes now and lie later, say Helen picked up a shift or something. She could say she has to work, which Clary likely wouldn’t buy at all because despite the workload, law offices don’t usually put people on the night shift. But Clary sounds so excited and sounded so disappointed they couldn’t make a lunch work, so she just can’t bring herself to say no.

“We’ll be there,” Aline says.

Clary makes a shrieking sound of excitement before she speaks, “Great! I’ll text you the details.” They trade a few pleasantries after that, catching up on a few things here and there. Luckily, Helen doesn’t come up, a good thing since Aline hasn’t had the opportunity to work on their cover story yet. Eventually the call ends and Aline shoots a quick text off to Helen about the bachelorette party making sure she’s okay with it. Aline slides off the couch to lie on the floor and throws her phone on the coffee table with a sigh as she goes.

She’s being a tad bit overdramatic; she knows that. She’s glad Maia is over at Bat’s and can’t witness it. Her phone buzzes about an hour later and Aline groans as she lifts herself up into a sitting position to grab it. Helen’s name flashes across the screen and for some reason Aline holds her breath as she opens it.

_[5:25 – From: Helen Blackthorn]_

_Hey fake girlfriend <3 Covered the dayshift, so I’m free tonight if you want to sort our love story out? Also, the Bachelorette party you texted about earlier, open bar?_

Aline chuckles as she reads it, typing out her response.

_[5:27 – to: Helen Blackthorn]_

_Yes to the open bar. And yes to meeting up. When and where? _

Helen’s response is immediate.

_[5:28 – From: Helen Blackthorn]_

_I’m definitely in then! How about I come over? You live just around the corner from the bar right?_

_Wait, that sounded a little creepy. I didn’t like stalk you; I just remember you mentioning you lived nearby the other night._

Aline smiles and begins typing her response but stops halfway through. The apartment isn’t exactly a mess or anything, Maia’s here less and less these days so there’s not even papers and books floating on every surface, but she looks down at her outfit that she’d changed into as soon as she got home. She’s wearing a ratty old NYU shirt that she’s pretty sure is Maia’s, her gigantic clear framed glasses she only ever wears at home and a pair of running shorts that have lost so many threads at the bottom they’re barely covering her anymore. It’s not her best look and if Helen just got off work she could be here in minutes, there’ll be no time to change.

She bites her lip thinking for another moment before throwing caution to the wind. It’s not like she needs to impress Helen she isn’t her actual girlfriend.

_[5:33 – to: Helen Blackthorn]_

_No worries, I feel pretty confident you’re not out to murder me. _

She sends the text followed up by another one with her address. Helen responds immediately with an affirmative. Not even five minutes later a knock sounds at the door. Aline rushes over pushing a few stray hairs from her ponytail before answering. She pulls open the door and Helen looks up. Her hair is braided in two pigtails, she’s wearing a light blue bomber jacket over top of a black t-shirt with the bars name on it and a pair of torn up blue jeans. She looks really, really pretty. No one should look that pretty fresh off an eight-hour shift at a bar. Aline looks like a bridge troll compared to her, she’s so screwed.

Helen gives her a quick once over, a smile quirking to the edge of her lips when she meets Aline’s eyes.

“Hey. Cute glasses,” she says and Aline blushes, actually blushes. She’s really going to need to get that under control.

“Thanks,” She says turning and gesturing for Helen to come in. Helen walks in, slowly heading towards the living room as Aline closes the door taking the brief seconds to calm the hell down. “Make yourself at home. Do you want anything to drink?”

“Water would be great,” Helen says as she walks over to sit down on the couch her eyes taking in the apartment around her.

Aline heads to the kitchen quickly filling up a glass with water gripping the edge of the counter for a second repeating a mantra of _don’t think about how pretty she is_ before she heads back into the living room. She curls up on the opposite side of the couch from Helen handing her the water and receiving a quiet thank you in response. They chat, some casual small talk about work days and how Aline tried her damnedest to keep them out of any event prior to the wedding, Helen just shrugs it off, making a passing comment about being happy to spend the time with Aline. Aline tries not to think too heavily on it, but after she says it there’s a weird silent tension in the air. Eventually it’s Aline that breaks it, unable to deal with the quiet.

“We should probably get our story sorted and actually learn a little about each other,” she says turning to face Helen head on sitting cross legged.

Helen nods, “Okay, basics first, my name is Helen Blackthorn and I’m a bartender, which you know. I’m bisexual and a democrat. I have six brothers and sisters, my father is a former diplomat turned stay at home dad, my mom is an herbalist, I have a Siamese cat named Bilbo cause his face is a little ugly and looks like that scene in Lord of the Rings where Bilbo goes feral. Also, I hate olives and Jimmy Fallon and I love pears and comic books.”

Aline takes it all in, laughing at her reasoning for her cat’s name, smiling at her likes and dislikes and trying not to be too interested in the confirmation of her sexuality. 

“You have six siblings?” Aline asks choosing to focus on that piece of information the instead. As an only child the concept is wild.

Helen nods smiling fondly as she lists off their names. “It’s always pretty hectic when we’re all together, but as the oldest I’m the designated wrangler so I handle it pretty well,” she says after she’s named all six of them. “Your turn.”

“Okay,” Aline says pausing as she decides what to share, settling on starting off with the same things Helen had. “My name is Aline Penhallow and I’m a paralegal. I’m a lesbian and a democrat. I have no siblings; my mom is a campaign manager. I’m originally from California, but we moved here after my dad died. I live with my best friend, Maia, even though between grad school and her boyfriend she barely lives here these days. I hate cop tv shows and Brussel sprouts and I love pineapple on pizza and movies about vampires.”

“I’m sorry about your dad,” Helen says and Aline waves it off, she was two when it happened she doesn’t even remember him and she says just that. “Still,” Helen says with a shrug, moving on quickly like she senses it’s something Aline doesn’t want to dwell on. She appreciates it more than Helen will ever know. “But good on the vampire movies, excellent call. Your stance on pineapple on pizza however is a crime.”

Aline laughs, she’s had this argument countless times in her life.

“It’s delicious and absolutely not a crime,” Aline says smirking before continuing. “And I would know because I work in law.”

Helen lets out an inelegant, but absolutely adorable snort at that.

“Whatever,” she says with a shake of her head. “Terrible food choices aside, we’ve got some background so now, how did we meet?”

Aline purses her lips for a moment in thought, “At the bar, keep it as close to the truth as we can less chance of a slip up.”

“Good call,” Helen nods along. “Just instead of two days ago, we met three months ago? Keeps it as an established relationship, but still new enough if there is something that comes up we don’t know about each other it won’t be weird.”

“Smart, and our first date?” They go back and forth like that for a while, establishing who asked who out, who kissed who first and all the things that might be asked about. Helen asked her out, they had their first date in central park a picnic Helen planned, Aline made the first move kissing Helen outside of her building after walking her home and they’ve been dating steadily ever since.

They exchange more medial information that it’d be odd if they didn’t know, names of important people in their lives, favorite colors and the sort. Every small bit of information is great for their plan, but terrible for Aline as it simply builds her growing crush up more and more.

“Anything else,” Helen says a few hours later.

“I think that covers the important bases,” Aline says. She’s sitting a lot closer to Helen now, somewhere over the past few hours they’ve somehow inched closer and closer their knees now brushing. Helen scoots forward a bit more reaching out to grab her glass on the coffee table. She takes a sip, accidentally brushing the back of her free hand across Aline’s bare knee for a fraction of second. The touch is like a livewire, the first time they’ve touched since their hands brushed at the bar.

Aline controls her blush this time, but the touch brings up something important.

“One other thing actually, hand holding, etc. we should probably set a line.”

Helen turns back to her after downing the last of her water. Aline absolutely does not watch the way her throat bobs at the action.

“Right, so hand holding seems pretty basic, no frisky stuff obviously,” she pauses. “It’ll probably come off strange if we don’t kiss though.”

Aline nods, “Maybe just cheek kisses.” It’s not that she doesn’t want to kiss Helen, she does resolutely more and more by the minute but she doesn’t want it to not be real.

“Totally reasonable,” Helen says with a smile. Aline nods, glad Helen is on board. The conversation veers off from there talking about Helen’s weird looking cat mostly when the front door clicks open, Maia stepping through.

“Oh,” she says pausing with the door still wide open ready to back out if Aline asked for some privacy. She won’t thought, she doesn’t need privacy, Helen’s her fake girlfriend and sort of friend, nothing more. “Didn’t know you had company,” she says looking at Aline directly, then back to eyeing them both. “I can- “she doesn’t finish her sentence just gestures back to the hall.

“No, no I should probably get going,” Helen says standing up from the couch, brushing her hands on her jeans. Aline stands as well ready to introduce her roommate; Maia of course beats her to it.

“I’m Maia, by the way,” she says dropping her bag at the door and walking over with an outstretched hand.

Helen takes it with a smile, “I’m Helen, Aline’s- “she pauses looking at Aline with a raised brow uncertain of what to say.

“It’s cool she knows the deal.”

Helen lets out a breath. “Fake girlfriend it is then,” She says with a chuckle. “I better get going.” She drops Maia’s hand walking towards the still open door, Aline follows behind seeing her out. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too,” Maia beams as she watches the two of them with a curious eye. “See you at the wedding!”

Helen steps into the hall with a final wave to Maia turning around to look at Aline who stands gripping the edge of the door.

“I think this went well,” Helen says with a smile. Aline nods in agreement. “My schedule’s pretty packed for work until the bachelorette party, but we should probably keep talking until then just to share more info.”

“Good idea,” she nods. The more background the easier this will be for their cover story. However the more background Aline gets on Helen might also make this crush problem of hers worse. “So, I guess I’ll see you next Thursday?”

Helen nods leaning in to kiss Aline on the cheek quickly, so quickly Aline barely has time to register the press of lips to her skin, but not quite so quickly that it doesn’t send her for a dizzying loop.

“For practice,” Helen shrugs. “Text me about a time to meet up on Thursday!” she yells as she walks away throwing a wave and a wink over her shoulder. Aline watches her go, mouth hanging wide open lifting a hand to where Helen’s lips had just pressed once she’s certain Helen has turned the corner and can’t see the action.

She shuts the door falling back on it with her eyes closed.

A chuckle has her opening her them and turning to glare at her best friend.

“Well you’re fucked,” Maia says with another laugh.

“Shut up,” Aline grumbles walking past her grabbing the empty glasses from the table and heading in to the kitchen to sit them in the sink. Maia follows her lifting herself up onto the counter by the sink.

“I gotta say, Bat’s a lucky dude, landed a date with a girl as pretty as her and now he’s got me,” Maia muses swinging her legs back and forth. Aline just glares at her again changing the subject, she doesn’t need another you should really date her speech. Aline may have a little crush but that’s it. 

“Why did you say you’ll see Helen at the wedding?” she questions. “What about the bachelorette party?”

Maia gives her a big innocent smile, that Aline’s seen enough times to know is the smile of bad news.

“Yeah about that…”

***

Thursday hits before Aline can even overthink it all. She’s been swamped at work and barely been home herself much like her best friend. Her best friend who’s ditching her tonight. She’s not mad, she is however uncertain how she’s going to survive a whole evening spent with just Helen. They’ve been texting back and forth nearly every waking hour since the night she’d come by to build their fictional love story.

If that night’s tidbits of information had Aline crushing harder and harder, the weeks’ worth of conversation since has sent her into an absolute lesbian disaster spiral of growing affection. After finally remembering to tell Helen about their small world connection to Bat and the Hunter’s moon, it’s all fun stories and little things throughout the day they just feel like sharing with one another.

Helen’s a lot of things, she’s smart, funny, and a dedicated sister and friend. They have a lot in common, but also were raised in such completely different ways that they’re learning new things from one another. They’d be great together if what they had was actually real. Maia was right she’s so fucked. And not in the good way.

Her work day breezes by and before she knows it she’s standing in front of the mirror in her underwear and bra stressing over which dress to wear. The red one Clary bought her, which feels like a weird thing to wear to said woman’s bachelorette party, the black one makes her look short and every other dress she owns just doesn’t feel right. She doesn’t know why. No, that’s a lie, she knows why, it’s because she wants whatever dress she wears tonight to wow Helen. So far Helen’s seen her look like a spiraling college student with no real pants and a casual legal aid and while she’s smiled at her and complimented her she’s pretty sure Helen’s just being nice. She wants to wow.

A knock on her door pulls her from the mirror falling face first onto her bed and letting out a muffled ‘come in.’

“Wow. You look great, Helen’s gonna love the outfit,” Maia says as she steps in. Aline lifts her head and glares at her best friend sending up a middle finger in her direction. Maia just laughs in response. Maia’s dressed in a brown patterned dress that zips in the front, her hair braided on one side and scarf tied around her neck. She looks adorable, the epitome of the girl you bring home to meet your mom.

“I’m serious,” Maia says moving to Aline’s closet and shuffling through the contents. “You’ll definitely make an impression,” she finishes and Aline can hear the smirk in her voice.

Aline rolls over and lifts herself off the bed standing next to Maia. “Help me pick a dress and stop being suggestive.”

Maia rolls her eyes, she clearly wants to say something, to encourage Aline to actually go for it with Helen, but she relents pulling a deep long-sleeved purple dress with two silver lines running down both sides.

“Wear this,” she says tossing it at Aline. “Casual, but worthy of a club party, plus it makes your boobs look great. Use that glittery eye shadow I bought you and put your hair in a ponytail. You don’t want to end up nearly suffocating the girl with all that admittedly beautiful hair of yours with how much head movement you put into your more spirited dancing.”

Aline frowns holding the dress up to herself in the mirror. It is one of her favorites. “I don’t move my head that much.”

“You do,” Maia laughs. “Have fun, don’t get too into your head. Tell Clary I’m sorry I couldn’t make it, but I’ll be at the wedding.” She presses a quick kiss to Aline’s head and walks out. A second later she hears the click of the front door and looks at the clock, Helen will be there in less than hour she probably should put some clothes on. Forty-five minutes later just as she’s tightening the ponytail on her head with one final tug a succession of light knocks hit the front door.

She gives herself one last onceover in the mirror before heading to the door and when she pulls open the door she nearly faints. She’s seen Helen in mostly casual work attire and been annoyed by how good she made a bar t-shirt look, but none of that prepared her for Helen in a dress. She wears a short flowy green number that she’s fairly certain from the cut in the front opens in the back. A leather jacket clings to those impressive arms of hers tightly, her hair is parted to one side in a long braid and her ears which had previously been bare sport a number of glittering piercings.

“Wow,” Aline says out loud completely lacking control of her volume or the breathy way she says it.

Helen smirks, “Same to you.” For a second Aline thinks she hears a hint of something there like maybe she has just wowed her, but it’s gone as quickly as she thought it was there. “Ready to go?”

Aline nods grabbing her keys and small black cross body bag, she looks at the coatrack by the door forgoing a jacket since her dress is long sleeved and it’s still just warm enough at night to go without before stepping into the hall Helen’s shoulder brushing hers as they walk.

***

Their train gets delayed, so by the time they reach Pandemonium the party seems to be in full swing.

“Anything else I need to know before we head in?” Helen asks, they’d spent the trip there double checking everything making sure there were no gaps in the timeline they’ve set up for their fake romance.

“I think we’re in the clear,” Aline says as she steps up to the large imposing bouncer by the door. He takes their names and nods letting them pass through the velvet rope.

Helen threads her fingers between Aline’s as they step into the club and Aline’s knees buckle slightly, she plays it off as a stumble due to her high heels and the slight rise of the floor upon entrance. The club is spacious, bright strobing lights of every color cascading across the space. Aline assumes that on a good night this place is packed to the brim. Tonight however the long bar has just one person behind it, a pretty dark-haired girl with curves for days, there’s no DJ just a few women who are likely party attendees picking music at their own accord and no more than fifteen people at best are on the dance floor.

A flash of red hair comes into view rushing towards them under the moving lights.

“Aline!” Clary yells barreling towards her. Helen smiles squeezing her fingers once before letting go just as Clary reaches them and pulls Aline into a giant hug. Aline hugs back easily, it feels like when they were just friends. She’s missed it. “I’m so glad you made it,” Clary says a little loudly over the pulsing music.

“Me too. Maia sends her best and can’t wait to see you at the wedding, but her boyfriends’ parents are in town, so she couldn’t make it,” Aline explains as she pulls back from Clary’s hug with a smile. It’s not even a lie, Maia really is at dinner with Bat’s parents.

Clary frowns a bit before beaming and moving her attention to Helen, “You must be Helen!”

“The one and only,” Helen says reaching out a hand, but Clary goes right in for the hug. Aline chuckles a bit as Helen slowly reaches up a hand to pat at Clary’s back.

“It’s so nice to meet you! Come on I want to introduce you to Izzy,” Clary says grabbing Aline’s hand lightly. Aline reaches out her free hand behind her and Helen immediately latches on. Much to her own personal pride, Aline’s knees don’t buckle this time.

Clary lets go of Aline once they reach the bar and leans over it in a manner that makes Aline start to wonder just how many drinks she’s had already, she always was a lightweight.

“Baby,” she yells a little louder than necessary over the music, confirming she’s definitely a little tipsy already. The woman behind the bar raises her head and the smile she sends Clary’s way could rival the sun. It’s a look full of love and fondness that almost feels too private to witness. “I want you to meet Aline and Helen,” she says before gesturing to the pair. “Aline and Helen meet Isabelle Lightwood, my fiancée.”

She says the word fiancée like it’s her favorite word in the world.

Isabelle looks at them and smiles reaching out both her hands across the bar to squeeze theirs. “It’s so nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you, especially you,” she says looking directly at Aline before letting go of their hands. Aline’s a little surprised, while there’s no ill will and they’re clearly trying to be friends again she didn’t think she would be a frequent conversation topic. “Clary’s told me all about the shenanigans you two and Maia would get into before you dated.”

Aline rolls her eyes fondly at the memories sharing a quick look of friendly mischief with Clary before responding, “I wouldn’t call them shenanigans. They were more hootenannies.”

“Troublemakers either way,” Isabelle laughs. Her attentions pulled away before she can say anything else by a voice at the other end of the bar calling her name and she excuses herself insisting they all continue this conversation later. Clary watches fondly as she goes.

“I better go be a good host,” Clary says as she looks up to the door, a girl from college Aline recognizes walking in. “Feel free to get behind the bar and get yourself drinks and I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

They watch her go flinging herself into Maureen the same way she had Aline.

“We aren’t late enough that she should be that tipsy already are we?”

Aline laughs, “By Clary Lightweight Fray standards we are.”

Helen laughs in response, “Want a drink?” she asks as she lifts the nearest movable section of the bar so she can get behind it when Aline nods an affirmative.

Helen takes off her jacket slinging it onto one of the clear barstools before heading behind the bar. And, yep, dammit the dress is open backed just as Aline predicted, revealing what seems like miles of pale skin partially covered in a long winding tattoo of ivy and flower blossoms. Aline could nearly die. Aline shakes her head, physically trying to clear her thoughts as she plants herself in one of the barstools as Helen starts making two drinks.

“You’ll like it,” she says a moment later when she pushes a drink in front of Aline and she raises a questioning eyebrow at it. She takes a sip.

“Pineapple,” she grumbles. “This wouldn’t be a comment on my wise pizza choices would it?” she says teasingly.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Helen replies in a way that could almost be considered flirtatious, before bringing the straw in her drink to her lips. Aline watches the movement a little too closely. Once again realizing Maia was so right, she’s truly fucked.

They talk at the bar for a while, a few girls Aline knows from college coming over to say hello and making introductions until eventually Clary works her way back to them pulling them along with her fiancée to a plush booth. Helen sits right next to Aline, their legs touching and her arm flung behind Aline on the seat. Aline tries to remain chill about it, reminding herself this is a completely normal way for girlfriends to sit.

Conversation with Clary falls back to like it was before they dated, and it’s nice to have again. Isabelle is fiery and brutally honest, but also incredibly kind and witty and Aline can see how Clary found it so easy to fall for her. Helen fits right in, laughing at stories that Clary shares of their college days and awing at how Isabelle met Clary when she volunteered for an art program at her youngest brother’s high school, finding easy common ground of conversation with them both. It’s like she really has been with Aline for months, like she’s meant to be right there. It’s a thing Aline can’t dwell on, instead getting lost in conversation with the brides to be.

“We better go out there, before our girls run off together,” Clary says almost two hours later. They’d gotten caught up in stories and conversation other women weaving in and out before heading back to the dance floor. Eventually Isabelle had grown restless begging Clary to dance with her, but Clary had declined needing a few more minutes to sober up, so she’d turned to Aline and Helen. Aline not much of a dancer had also declined, but Helen had taken Isabelle’s outstretched hand planting a kiss on Aline’s cheek before heading out under the strobing lights.

“I doubt it,” Aline says turning and watching the two spin each other and laugh. “The way Isabelle looks at you she’s not going anywhere.”

Clary hums, “Same goes for the way Helen looks at you.”

Aline snorts, it’s a sweet thing for Clary to say, but this isn’t real. Helen looks at her the way she’d look at any girlfriend or boyfriend, playing the part to help Aline not look like a fool who makes up fictional romances.

“Come on,” Clary says standing and holding out a hand to lift Aline up from the couch. She takes it letting herself be dragged to the floor.

“Mind if we cut in,” Clary shouts over the pulsing beat, Isabelle immediately parting from Helen and handing her off to Aline falling right into her fiancée’s hold.

Helen smiles as she slips her hands to Aline waist pulling her close and moving to the beat.

“This okay?” she asks leaning in close to Aline’s ear so she hears her. Aline just nods moving to the beat along with Helen. She knows she’s being over self-conscious about it from the way Helen is smiling at her, but after a few songs she lets go, gets lost in the beat and the feel of Helen’s hands on her hips. 

They dance for hours sometimes trading off with Isabelle and Clary, but usually sticking together only taking breaks to hydrate. Aline falls into it every time she finds herself pressed back up against Helen, their bodies a long line of heat and movement rolling in tandem with one another.

She turns in Helen’s arms at one point her back pressed to Helen’s chest completely losing herself in the touch of Helen’s fingers around her waist and trailing her arms, the heat that’s engulfing her is intense. A pleasant burn of desire that she’d be willing to let consume her if this was all real, but it isn’t so she stays on the edge of it. Feeling the heat and letting it light her veins afire, but keeping just enough distance so she won’t completely burn. 

And then somewhere between the strobing lights, the pineapple drinks and the motion of Helen’s hips she lets herself just have fun and forget this isn’t going to last much longer, that this isn’t really real.

***

“Tonight was fun,” Helen says when they reach the door of Aline’s building at nearly 3 a.m. after staying at the club much later than they had planned. She lives on the other side of Brooklyn, but had offered to walk a slightly tipsy Aline home for her safety. The night air and the three bottles of water bought at a stand outside of the subway have sobered her up now though. “Clary and Isabelle are great.”

“Yeah,” Aline agrees, now sober the carefree feelings that had let herself forget and get lost in it all is gone now. She knows this isn’t Helen dropping her off after a date, they won’t kiss on the stoop or fall into bed together. They’ll just say goodnight, go to a wedding and then maybe be friends afterwards. “Clary’s really found her match.”

“Lucky her,” Helen says looking down at the ground kicking at the concrete a bit and there’s something behind the way she says it Aline can’t read, too tired to figure out the tone of her words. “Well, I better let you go crash. I’ll see you on Saturday for the wedding?”

“Text me when you get home,” Aline says wanting to be sure she makes it home safe.

“I will, I promise,” Helen says reaching out a hand to brush along Aline’s arm slowly before turning and stepping out to hail a cab and hopping in quickly before throwing a wave Aline’s way. Aline sighs heading inside, she makes it upstairs barely paying any mind to the emptiness of her apartment and barely having the clarity of mind to take of her dress before plummeting face first into her covers. She snuggles up under them well and truly crashing, drifting off to sleep quietly thinking about the feel of Helen’s hips beneath her hands and her body pressed along her own and how she’ll probably never get to feel it again.

***

The day of the wedding Aline’s in such a rush she barely has time to appreciate the pretty pink dress Helen’s wearing. However, she notices enough that she gets knowing looks from Maia and Bat as they all four pile into a van cab together. She feels a little bad as she sits next to Helen, she’s been ignoring her texts largely since the night of the party, only answering the ones about times and locations. She’d let herself go that night, let herself think it was real while they were on the dancefloor keeping just barely an edge of distance between them and it was a mistake so she’d pushed away.

She knows Helen’s nice and just wants to be friends, but she needed the brief distance to breathe, even if there’ll be no distance between them today. Helen doesn’t acknowledge the near radio silence, but she seems less smiley and there’s no teasing to be found. Aline misses it, she also doesn’t though, it’s easier to remember it’s fake this way.

The ride over Helen doesn’t even talk to Aline, she catches up with Bat, musing on how her connection to them and chance encounter with Aline is so coincidental.

The ceremony is beautiful, held in a large hall just outside the city limits. Aline can see Clary’s artistic taste and what she assumes is Isabelle’s flair in every bit of decoration. Clary in a white low-cut suit walks down the aisle with her dad.

“Damn, Clary’s dad is hot,” Helen whispers leaning into Aline really talking to her for the first time all day and Aline simply laughs. He is, even from the gayest point of view.

Isabelle comes down the aisle in a beautiful white gown her mother on one side and the man Aline assumes to be her oldest brother, Alec, who she’d gushed about the other night, on the other. The ceremony isn’t long, they exchange vows they’ve written and everyone cries and claps and not long after they’re moving to an outdoor patio and open backyard where the reception is being held. The four of them are seated at a table not far from the immediate family along with Maureen and a few other girls from college they all used to run with.

The newlyweds enter through a decorated archway, dancing slow to a soft, pretty cover of ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You’ for their first dance. Aline watches them sway slowly in each other’s arms and unbidden she finds herself looking in Helen’s direction as the line ‘only fools rush in’ echoes out. She swears she catches Helen looking right back for a second, but her head moves so fast Aline can’t be sure. She misses the rest of the dance, spends it looking at Helen even though she knows she shouldn’t.

Dinner goes by in a flurry of conversation at the table and the cake is cut promptly after, Clary delicately feeding a piece to Isabelle and Isabelle shoving a piece in Clary’s face rubbing it all over. Once the food portion of the evening has passed the dance floor opens up and people begin to disperse jumping from table to table.

Aline jumps up to get drinks for her and Helen watching as she talks animatedly with Bat and Maia. She comes back just as the DJ announces the mother-daughter dance. She sits a drink down in front of Helen and Helen smiles at her a little tightly before taking a sip.

She pauses after briskly turning to look at Aline, “Pineapple.” She whispers shaking her head with an eye roll. Aline just shrugs, it’s a silent peace offering, an apology for ignoring her texts and being so quiet all day. If the way Helen’s smile softens is anything to go by the message is received.

“Their mother must be one hell of a woman,” Helen says a minute later as she watches Isabelle and her tall, striking mother dance. “Four kids and three of them are in same sex relationships and she doesn’t seem to have anything but love for them all.”

Aline hums, “According to Clary she is. Evidently when Alec came home from his senior semester abroad with a husband and came out officially it was a little rocky, but mostly due to the fact that he got married without her there and not the fact that he came home married to a man. It was a domino effect of coming outs from there, first Isabelle over breakfast then her other older brother by dinner the next night.”

Aline had smiled when at the bachelorette party Clary had told her all about how Isabelle’s mother had been such a support in their family. With Clary’s mother long gone it was nice to see she’d found someone to look up to in that manner, in their year together Jia had never exactly taken to the redhead. For a second she wonders if her mom would like Helen and quickly shakes the thought, not wanting to go back into her pining spiral when they’re back on the track of pleasant conversation.

“You okay?” Helen asks breaking her from her attempted spiral.

Aline nods her head with a smile bravely reaching out and placing her hand on top of Helen’s twining their fingers together loosely. Helen smiles back turning again to watch the dance.

***

A little while later after the father-daughter dance and whole lot of bouncing conversations Aline’s at the bar again this time with Bat and Maia watching as the sun sets low and twinkling string lights come to life on the patio and across the yard. Bat leans in brushing his nose against Maia’s before he heads towards the inside of the venue to the bathroom leaving them at the bar. Maia watches with an adoring smile as he goes leaning her hip against the bar. They’re always cute, but they’re laying it on extra thick tonight. She thought it was the atmosphere, but she knows Maia, it’s something else.

“You’re being weird,” Aline says as she leans on the bar waiting for their drinks.

“No I’m not,” she answers a little too quickly and Aline gives her a deep questioning look. “Ugh, fine,” she gives in. “I was gonna wait and tell you since we’re at someone else’s wedding, but Bat asked me to move in. And I said yes.”

She looks nervous, like Aline won’t be happy for her. Yes, Aline will miss having her best friend one door away, she’ll miss Thai food Tuesday, the first Tuesday of every month when they gorge themselves with pounds of takeout, she’ll miss seeing Maia every day, but the fact is Maia’s been living with Bat for months essentially and Aline couldn’t be happier for her. Maia’s found her perfect match.

“That’s amazing,” Aline says leaning in for a quick hug that Maia immediately returns. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

“Yeah?” Maia questions pulling back with a smile.

“Yeah, I mean I’ll miss you like crazy, but Bat’s the best and I’m so happy for you,” Aline smiles bright at her best friend.

“I’m happy for me too,” Maia says attention pulled away for a second as the bartender sits their drinks down in front of them. “Thai food Tuesday is still absolutely going to happen for the record, no changing that.” Aline smiles a little brighter. “Bat and Helen aren’t invited though; no significant others, it stays a BFF tradition.”

Aline startles a bit fumbling with her drink as a bit sloshes over the edge, “Well I’m pretty sure you won’t be seeing Helen again after tonight since she’s not my real girlfriend so no worries there.”

Maia gives Aline a knowing look, “She’s not your girlfriend yet.” She leans her back against the bar gesturing to where Helen stands laughing at something Isabelle just said as they chat. “You’re into her, it’s very obvious.”

She is, she knows that, but it’s not_ that_ obvious she’s been playing it cool. Maia only notices because she knows Aline so well.

“You haven’t been playing it nearly as cool as you think, and it’s not just because I know you so well,” Maia says like she can read her mind. “She likes you too.”

“No she doesn’t,” Aline says immediately. She knows her crush is real, but Helen definitely doesn’t reciprocate. She smiles and laughs and compliments Aline and sure maybe sometimes it sounds a little flirty, but she’s just friendly that’s all. It’s a part of her job to be friendly and she carries it beyond that, that’s it. They’re friends at best, a thing they might be able to maintain after they fake breakup if Aline can keep it together. Helen’s not interested in her that way, she’s just playing along.

“She does,” Maia says like Aline is stupid. “You can’t see how she looks at you when you’re not watching. It’s so fond it’s ridiculous. Plus, she flirts with you all the time or at least she was before today based on everything you told me and all the texts you two were swapping.”

“She doesn’t flirt with me,” Aline says, Helen’s just nice that’s all. She ignores the first thing Maia said, certain that it’s all in her head.

“Sure she doesn’t,” Maia says with the most sarcasm Aline’s ever heard in her voice.

“It’s not like that, so just let it go,” Aline says taking a sip of her drink. Maia puts her hands up surrendering before picking up her own and taking a sip.

“Just one last thing,” Maia says no sarcasm or anything of the like in her voice. She sounds soft and serious. “You might not think she likes you, but you didn’t deny that you like her. Don’t let your fears hold you back. It didn’t work with Clary because you two didn’t want to make it work, not because you failed with your perfect on paper match or anything. It’ll be different this time, it’ll be better. It could be with Helen if you let it be.”

Maia walks off as soon as she’s done heading towards where Bat has re-entered the patio area leaving Aline alone with her words. She knows Maia’s right about things with Clary, about her fears, but she’s not right about Helen. There’s no way she’s right about Helen. She feels ready to date again, feels like she’s moved past things a lot in the last few days after seeing Clary so happy, but she won’t move on with Helen. It’s just not possible, no matter how much Maia seems to think it is.

She looks back over to the table and finds Helen gone, Isabelle moved on to another spot.

“Wanna dance?” Helen’s voice says suddenly beside her startling her a bit so that more of her drink sloshes over. Helen chuckles handing Aline a napkin from the bar. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. So, dance?”

Aline should say no. They danced the other night and Aline let herself go to a dangerously close to acting on her burgeoning feelings place. If she moves with Helen like that again she might break, saying goodbye to any potential of them staying friends when all of this is said and done. But she can’t say no, not when Helen is looking at her with hopeful eyes, the white lights blinking in her iris’s. She can handle once dance, one last dance.

“Okay,” she says sticking her napkin in her glass, abandoning her drink and holding out a hand to Helen. An upbeat song that she’s fairly certain is by Bruno Mars is playing a fun beat that won’t require them to dance in close quarters. It’s perfect.

Of course the song ends just as their feet touch the raised dance floor in the center of the grass. A slow, melodic love song playing instead. Aline’s ready to back up, say they wait for the next song, but Helen just pulls her in close by the waist, Aline’s mind immediately flashes back to the other night. She lifts her arms draping them across Helen’s shoulders and twining them together behind her neck.

The sway for a moment not quite meeting each other’s eyes when Aline decides to break the tension settling between them, “I’m sorry if I’ve been kind of quiet today.” She doesn’t know how to explain it without exposing her crush and the sinking knowledge this ends after tonight, but she feels like she should apologize nonetheless.

Helen meets her eyes finally, “It’s okay, I get it.” She says it like she really truly understands it. Aline know she doesn’t actually get it though, she probably thinks she’s being this way cause she’s at an ex’s wedding or something of the like, but Aline nods along anyways. The keep swaying slowly after that the silence settling between them no longer filled with an awkward tension.

They’re staring into each other’s eyes and Aline can feel herself falling, getting lost like she had at the bachelorette party, but this time she’s not lost in the heat of it all, she’s lost in the affection. The affection she feels for the woman in front of her. It’s an even harder feeling to hold back from.

She doesn’t know why she does what she does next. Doesn’t know why she’d managed to not do anything of the sort the other night when she’d been tipsy and feeling a little looser. Doesn’t know if it’s the romantic nature of the space as a whole messing with her head or the love song drowning out her logical self, but something in her brain short circuits; her actions not listening to the reasonable voice in her head that tells her to stop as she leans in close to Helen lips just barely an inch from one another.

And for a bright brilliant second Aline thinks that Helen moves in too. The brightness immediately dulls however when she pulls back abruptly and entirely, hands dropping from Aline’s waist.

“I have to-,” Helen starts pulling back even further, enough so that Aline’s arms have no choice but to fall listlessly to her sides. “I’ll be back.” She waves a hand in the general space around them, turning quickly to head back inside the venue and away from Aline.

Maia comes over immediately with Bat in tow likely witnessing the whole interaction. She reaches out a hand to comfort Aline, but she brushes her off mumbling something about needing a drink and not feeling like dancing anymore, telling them to have fun and that she’s okay. She loves them both, but she doesn’t need their pity right now, she fucked up, she shouldn’t have tried to make a move. Knew it was a bad idea, but she let her body take the wheel and now it’s all messed up.

She just wants them to keep basking in their happiness and wants to sit at their table the rest of the night and wallow in her own disappointment.

***

Aline looks out at the dance floor her finger lightly tracing the edge of her champagne glass.

Alec is swaying in a corner with his husband, Magnus, their foreheads are touching as they move the soft look in their eyes tells her that there isn’t a single other person in the room as far as they’re concerned. Not far from them is Isabelle’s adopted brother and his boyfriend, the dance is a little more tentative, the spark of a new relationship as her brother reaches out to tuck a bit of his boyfriends long black and electric blue hair behind his ear. Maia and Bat are spinning completely out of tune with the music, so in love with the excitement of the future they’re moving towards clear on their laughing faces. Clary and Isabelle stand in the center not really moving just whispering softly to one another and laughing. Clary’s suit jacket was long ago discarded allowing Isabelle to trail her fingers lightly over her wife’s exposed arms. It’s like they’ve already left for their honeymoon despite still standing in the center of their own reception.

And Aline, Aline wants that. Wants all of that. The solid, world shattering kind of love, the tentative kind, the playful kind, the taking a leap kind and the literal honeymoon phase as well. She wants each of those stages that the Lightwood siblings and her best friend have all gone through, are heading towards and are experiencing in some way right now. She wants. She specifically wants it with Helen, but considering she still hasn’t returned from that charged, almost kiss moment during their slow dance seven songs ago she’s fairly certain that’s not going to happen. Maia was wrong about Helen being into her, Clary was too, that’s couldn’t be clearer now.

“Hey, can we talk,” Helen’s voice says suddenly coming up and sitting next to her. She nods knowing she’s not going to like what she hears, but has to hear it anyways. Once it’s all said out loud she can shake it and move on. She follows along as Helen leads her to a secluded area away from the party.

“So here’s the thing,” she starts as soon as they stop walking. “I don’t get you. I mean at first I admit you were a pretty girl in distress who I wanted to help, but then I got to know you and I started flirting and you seemed to flirt back but then you shot it all down, especially after the bachelorette party. You’ve basically completely ignored me since that night.”

Wait, Helen was actually flirting with her, she’s about to speak, but Helen keeps soldiering on.

“And at first I thought it was the whole ex’s wedding thing being harder than you thought, but I realized from the way you were during the ceremony it was definitely about me. Which sucks, but I wasn’t going to force anything no matter how much fun we had or how bad I wanted you close again, no matter how much I like you. So, then today I keep it totally platonic when we’re alone, no cheek kisses even publicly despite needing to convince everyone here we’re together and then you go and try to kiss me on the dance floor. So, basically what the hell Aline?”

Aline opens her mouth to explain as she soaks in everything Helen had just blurted out. She wants to tell Helen how she’d only behaved the way she had because she thought there was no way Helen was interested. Wants to apologize and wants tell her just how much she likes her. But no words come out and just like on the dance floor her logical brain and her body ignore one another completely. She leans in fast this time, her lips immediately connecting with Helen’s. This time however Helen responds her hands moving up to Aline’s neck her lips moving, parting Aline’s expertly and tilting her head just right. Her tongue dips into Aline’s mouth for a brief second before she pulls back completely.

“Wait,” she says. “That’s doesn’t- “

“I like you too,” Aline cuts her off. “I like you a lot, in a way I haven’t liked anyone in a long time because I was a little scared to. But then I got it into my own head that you didn’t like me too and I got way to close to the edge of letting myself believe you might, to thinking this could be real at the bachelorette party so I pulled back.”

Aline says it all in a rush getting it all out in one go before taking a deep breath. “And then I don’t know Maia said something and it wasn’t just like how she’s been teasing me since the night we met and planned this whole thing so my brain decided to shut down and try to kiss you. I’m sorry if I made it all weird, I just really didn’t think you felt the same.”

Helen takes it all in, her eyes a little wide looking completely dumfounded.

“How could you think I don’t like you too? I flirt with you constantly and I agreed to be your fake girlfriend after knowing you for twenty minutes.”

Aline shrugs, “I just thought you were being nice.”

“No one’s that nice,” Helen scoffs.

Aline smiles innocently with another shrug.

“I guess I’m a little stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” Helen says stepping close again hands reaching out to hold Aline’s waist lightly. “Oblivious and possibly a little insane to think any woman who likes women wouldn’t be into you, but not stupid.”

Aline laughs leaning in close and draping her arms over Helen’s shoulders. They stay that way quietly for a little while.

“So, fake girlfriend, how would you like to get dinner with me tomorrow night and maybe become my real girlfriend?” Aline whispers into the space between them. Not far in the distance the music picks up to something more upbeat and the clink of glasses echoes over the open space.

“I think I’d love to get dinner with you tomorrow night,” Helen says brushing her nose across Aline’s. “But I think I’d like to become your real girlfriend right now.”

Aline smiles, there’s probably more they need to talk about and definitely a lot they still need to learn about each other. But now they have tomorrow for that and if she’s lucky many more days and months and years after that. So instead of talking she just leans back in.

“I like the sound of that, girlfriend,” she says brushing the words over Helen’s lips just before they connect once again. And suddenly all that exists is the points where their bodies touch, sending a warm pleasant buzz across her skin, the sound of the reception behind them fading to a dull hum. It’s just her and Helen. Her and her very real girlfriend.

And the next morning when Helen comes stumbling out of Aline’s bedroom in one of her t-shirts Aline trailing right behind her pressing sloppy kisses to the back of her neck, Maia only smirks over her coffee and says I told you so once.

**Author's Note:**

> And then they fall in love LOVE and go on group dates with Clizzy and MaiaBat and even Malec and Jeliorn eventually too and live happily ever after. 
> 
> Pineapple on pizza is great by the way, Aline is the wisest woman alive. 
> 
> Also, I may have written how this universes Alec went on his semester abroad and came home married to Magnus: which you can now read [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20220142)
> 
> As always, find me on tumblr: [alecmagnuslwb](https://alecmagnuslwb.tumblr.com/)


End file.
